Sunday, November 12, 2017

Just want to say thanks to those who spent your hard-earned dollars on a copy of C & H and the Wordleys. I know the illustrations are rudimentary, which is honestly something that I have panic attacks about for around 30 minutes a day on average. But I'll tell you, Bo is so beyond excited to have the opportunity to illustrate these books with the "paper cutter machine" that my "inner mom" is quieting my "inner creative director." Our vision is to get three books on the digital shelf (S & H and T & H) by Christmas, then we'll invest in a professional illustrator (who I totally have my heart set on). Grateful for you guys taking the journey with us. <3 So many thank yous.

Sunday, November 5, 2017

After rigorous testing with kindergarteners and teachers, we're officially published. Big thank you to everyone who helped review and give input. So grateful for your support to help make this an effective tool for the world's littlest readers. After years of rehearsing single letter sounds in pre-school, blended sounds can throw early readers a curveball. The Wordleys aim to introduce and make memorable common blended sounds -- like "ch" and "sh" -- with the help of silly stories and Sound Songs. Check out C & H and the Wordleys on Amazon Prime. Look for S & H and the Wordleys coming soon.

Thursday, October 26, 2017

With a couple kiddos who are trying to learn to read, I was on a mission to help craft stories that help them learn one of the toughest kindergarten lessons: blended sounds. This story is about C & H as they venture out to join other Wordleys (letter friends who like to make words).

Synopsis: Not all H’s are outgoing, you know. Some are too nervous to say anything at all. But not this H; this H loves to get loud. So when he and his friend, C, try to find the perfect word to help them make their special “ch” sound, H refuses to be stifled. The Wordleys series helps new readers learn one of reading's toughest lessons: unique and blended sounds like ch, sh, silent h and more.

Sunday, March 1, 2015

Throwback to 2009. Our QL internal marketing team had a budget of zero dollars to make a video to launch Quizzle. So we did this. One of the easiest clients I've ever written for; a tone you could really find a voice in.

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

I just want you to know. For the love of brown apples and bud-riddled potatoes, dammit, I'm trying with all the mom-love I have in me to spare you.

From what I gather, it's a losing battle. I refuse to believe that people want to give you cancer - carelessly smattering our household goods with body-rocking chemicals. I do believe, though, that people are competitive. And in this competitive market where shelf-space comes at a premium, I believe people who own products - simple products like apples and potatoes, or more complex ones like detergent and wet wipes - find it difficult to gain an edge on their competitors. So they try to make their product better by creating a "problem" with the product that most consumers didn't even know existed.

Apples turn brown when you cut them. To most, that's not a problem; that's just the nature of an apple.
Potatoes grow buds. To most, that's not a problem; that's a mother-freaking potato, for crap's sake. But even potato farmers need to be competitive. There are lots of potato farmers, I guess. So some guy comes up with some chemical that will solve this budding "problem," and they go sell it to the farmer under the guise that it will make their potatoes more desirable to buyers at big name grocery stores.

The buyers think that carrying these "problem-solved!" potatoes will make their store the more desirable destination for consumers (Why, what problem-free potatoes you have!) and there's not another thought about it. Well, that's not true. There's probably some thought. I'm sure the potato people have to prove their product is safe for consumption within certain parameters.

But, here's the thing - with your grandmas and great grandmas having suffered through a couple rounds of cancer and as a parent who is responsible for your well-being, I have to consider the problem is (ehem, the REAL problem is) that sometimes these parameters just aren't good enough. Really, they're not good enough for ourselves, let alone our kids.

Kids, I don't know if any of this is true. About the apples, the potatoes, soy milk, the baby wipes, yellow dyes, red dyes, arsenic in rice milk and apple juice... I have no idea. I'm a writer, not a chemist. Until a couple years ago, I trusted brands to make products that won't give you cancer. Then I read about these unnatural new apples that won't turn brown when you cut them, and I literally laughed aloud at the article: What store would stock these apples with this big trend toward organic produce?! Then, just today, I walked over to our kitchenette and saw pre-sliced, store-bought apples that were sitting out for hours with not a shade of brown on them. Well, hell. They've made it into circulation.

So the more I read, the more I guess the duty falls on me. Which brings me back to my initial point:

Your soaps, ugh. I hope they're fine. I steer clear of the ones that suffer vicious public floggings.

It's not going to be perfect. Frankly, and sadly, I don't think our home has the budget to be 100% cancer-free. I just hope it works.

We're still going to eat canned stuff and pizza and for now, GASP, American cheese (you freaking love it). And if that undoes all the afore-listed efforts, well then... crap. I'm sorry. And at least you know we tried.

The "Let's Get Real" Mommy Blog

I wanted to read a blog that was real. From real moms with real cameras that don't naturally fade out backgrounds, that make even the most mundane parties look like haute haughty affairs and even the blandest recipes look like Chef Superman plated them. I want to see how dinner REALLY looks, how it REALLY tastes and how long did it REALLY take you to make all those paper tags on your one-year-old's birthday spread, and was it all REALLY worth it? So, welcome to that. The no-frills mom blog by a chick who's a copywriter by day, mom by everyday, who has a point-and-click camera with a passion for getting creative but a thimble full of time to do it. Add in a tween stepdaughter, an infant son and a husband who keeps me laughing through all of it. Oh, and we relocated to a land far away from friends and family so we're doing this whole life thing on our own. The learning curve, as you can imagine, is a hairpin one.